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Interbike: Leaving Las Vegas?

Published August 31, 2010

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA (BRAIN)— This year’s Interbike show could be the last in Las Vegas as organizers contemplate a possible move to Anaheim, California, or Salt Lake City, Utah, for 2011 and beyond as well as earlier August show dates.

Show director Andy Tompkins said Nielsen Business Media, which owns Interbike as well as Action Sports Retailer, Outdoor Retailer and the Health+Fitness Business Expo, expected to announce the new dates and possible change in venue at Interbike later this month.

“We’re just about to finalize that,” Tompkins told BRAIN. “We’re committed to migrating to earlier dates and we are sensitive to the fact that Vegas isn’t a good long-term solution. We’re waiting on Anaheim and Salt Lake City to finalize what they’re able to do in terms of a contract and securing dates for the 2011 to 2014 range. But we don’t just want to package it as we’re moving dates; we want to present the industry with a coherent solution.”

This spring organizers made public their intentions to move the show to the first two weeks of August to coincide with the industry’s earlier product launches and buy/sell cycle. At the time, it didn’t plan to move the show from Las Vegas. But concerns over the desert heat and how it could affect the show’s Outdoor Demo, among other reasons, have prompted Nielsen to reconsider.

Anaheim’s convention center could easily accommodate a show the size and scope of Interbike and its many island-style booth configurations. While the Salt Palace Convention Center in Utah has been home to the Outdoor Retailer winter and summer shows for years, some question whether it could fully contain the bike show.

Both venues offer excellent options for the show’s Outdoor Demo within a short shuttle ride’s distance, and are located near a major airport able to handle the increased traffic, as well as extensive lodging and restaurant alternatives.